Thank you all. He has amazed everyone. His heart, which was barely functioning when he was brought in this morning, is back to what is normal for him. He does have a wicked clot in his right arm that has turned it purple, but now that his heart is okay they are prepping him for surgery to remove it. He was awake and as coherent as one can be while intubated a while ago. We said our goodbyes and he received last rites and then he turned the corner, as it were. His heart was stopped for about six minutes at one point but no lasting damage appears to have occurred.

He is.not totally out of the wood, yet, but this is a vast improvement on this morning's prognosis.

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"Hearing a nun's confession is like being stoned to death with popcorn." --Abp. Fulton Sheen

Only pray for me, that God would give me both inward and outward strength, that I may not only speak, but truly will; and that I may not merely be called a Christian, but really be found to be one. St.Ignatius of Antioch.Epistle to the Romans.

At first, the doctors thought that he may have had a clot in his heart that created the cardiac event of this morning and that had moved to his arm. However, upon looking for it, it was determined that he has compartment syndrome in his arm, which is basically the swelling of the tissue between the muscles. This cuts off circulation, creating a bit of a vicious circle. The surgeon had to make some incisions, cutting his arm open to alleviate the swelling and drain the fluid.

They removed the vent tube this morning and he's back to his sassy old self, cracking jokes and telling people what to do. The arm is still draining and will continue to do so over the weekend. They will assess if they can sew it back up on Monday which may require some skin grafts depending on the damage. His pacemaker will also be checked (they may have done this earlier today when I wasn't around). Regardless, he survived another heart attack and will hopefully be home by the end of next week.

Slava Bohu!

« Last Edit: February 21, 2013, 08:57:38 PM by Schultz »

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"Hearing a nun's confession is like being stoned to death with popcorn." --Abp. Fulton Sheen

Well, he is back on life support. He had another heart attack this morning, his third in five days. He was transferred yesterday evening to another hospital that was better equipped to perform a surgical procedure on his heart and arrived in good spirits. However, someone at the the original hospital neglected to send the most recent CT scan and the doctors at the new hospital determined that, according to the info they had, he did not need the aforementioned procedure. They would let him and his kidneys (which had been through hell the past few days) a rest. Before we left, though, my sister in law asked twice if they had the most recent CT scan. They said yes. We went home and awoke to another event and now he is back on life support, even worse off than before. I know that if my father could see himself now, he would not be happy.

I am very angry at the medical team. I'm not sure where, but someone in the chain made the decision to act on outdated info, giving my family, and my sister especially, false hope. These last few days after we were told it was over and he came out against all odds were a tremendous gift. But bring told that all was well and he'd be out of icu in a day or two is unacceptable. In addition to remembering my father, please specifically pray that I do not take my anger out on people who do not deserve it. It know its okay that I'm angry, but I do not want to compound things by being an ass because of it.

Thank you all for your support.

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"Hearing a nun's confession is like being stoned to death with popcorn." --Abp. Fulton Sheen

They spent yesterday warming him back up after icing him down to facilitate healing and give them time to come up with a game plan. I went to see him yesterday afternoon and his vitals were looking much better. Whereas on Sunday, his EKG was showing one or two regular heartbeats followed by six or seven weak ones (or a-fibs), yesterday he was showing eight or nine regular beats with one or two a-fibs, which, for him, is normal. Blood pressure was fine. He was still vented but the nurse said that he's actually breathing much on his own and the vent is just helping as opposed to breathing for him. She also mentioned that at one point he opened his eyes and she asked him to wiggle his toes which he promptly did. I left with some peace knowing that he wasn't in any pain and resting as comfortably as one can strapped to a bed with a tube in your lungs.

My brother just told me that he is now awake and responsive. He has no memory of getting to the new hospital but that's understandable and okay considering what he went through.

Sunday night I started praying the akathist to St. Panteleimon. This is probably the first time I've prayed an akathist that wasn't to our Lord, the Blessed Mother, or St. Alexis Toth (whom I consider my patron saint). Even though I can't discount the stubborness and mettle of my old man in his recent recovery (the joke now is that he's showing Baltimore that Ray Lewis is a wimp compared to a son of Pittsburgh), I also cannot discount the intercession of St. Panteleimon at this point. I was dangerously near despair on Sunday night and just had a sudden inspiration to crack open the Book of Akathists after my regular evening prayers.

In addition to my father's recovery, my sister, of whom I've posted about occasionally regarding her mental health and depression, has overcome some very strong and real barriers for her. She is still a nervous wreck and fidgeting constantly, but she is holding it together despite often being overwhelmed and can calmly say, "I need to take a walk," to clear her head whereas before she would just hold things in until she cracked. Much like how her initial struggles both exposed some cobwebs in our family and led to bringing us closer together, the good that God is helping us make out of this present difficulty is bringing us closer both individually and collectively to the Light of Christ.

My father finally got what he's been wanting for literally days now: water. I've never heard water described as "delicious" before but that's what he said when he was finally allowed a teaspoon of water about six after they removed the vent tube. The fact that he had the sucker in his mouth all day to remove all the congestion he's been coughing up did not help his thirst, but he was overjoyed. Before I left for the night, he had graduated to ice chips which he was taking in stride and didn't fight when he finished one and was told he had to wait a few more minutes before the next. I believe the nurse said he might be able to get some applesauce (one of his favorites of all time, btw) soon. Within minutes of being able to get some water his voice improved tenfold. His vitals continued to look good and, while weak, he is able and, most importantly willing, to ask for help when he needs it. Like me, he's someone who doesn't ask for help until it's often too late; we're stubborn like that. But, God be praised, he's asking.

Thank you one and all for your continued support and prayers for him and my family as we weather this storm.

Now go tell someone you love them. Right now. Especially someone that you normally don't say such things to.

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"Hearing a nun's confession is like being stoned to death with popcorn." --Abp. Fulton Sheen

He was able to eat all his lunch (solid food!) and they are going to try to get him into a chair at least tonight so he can go for a wheel around the hospital. His recovery continues apace and they are now talking about moving him to a rehab facility so he can build up his strength before any surgery he might have.

This is all such a miracle to me and once again, thank you all for your prayers.

« Last Edit: February 28, 2013, 05:12:18 PM by Schultz »

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"Hearing a nun's confession is like being stoned to death with popcorn." --Abp. Fulton Sheen

New update. He made it to the rehab facility and is flourishing there and was finally able to eat his lunch out of bed for the first time since this all started. He will be there for some time still but its a far cry from being clinically dead just two weeks ago.

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"Hearing a nun's confession is like being stoned to death with popcorn." --Abp. Fulton Sheen

He's coming home on Friday! The PT will come to the house for his exercises from thereon out. I'm going over tonight to help my brother make some furniture moves so he won't have to climb stairs anymore.

Slava Bohu! Glory to God!

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"Hearing a nun's confession is like being stoned to death with popcorn." --Abp. Fulton Sheen

Thanks be to God. All the best to all of you and may the ever virgin Theotokos, the Heavenly Queen and Protectoress watch over, protect and intercede for you, your dad and your family in the sure to be challenging days ahead. Lord, have mercy.

Only pray for me, that God would give me both inward and outward strength, that I may not only speak, but truly will; and that I may not merely be called a Christian, but really be found to be one. St.Ignatius of Antioch.Epistle to the Romans.

Conquer evil men by your gentle kindness, and make zealous men wonder at your goodness. Put the lover of legality to shame by your compassion. With the afflicted be afflicted in mind. Love all men, but keep distant from all men.—St. Isaac of Syria

The follow-up CT scan today showed some possible more tearing in the artery although, thankfully, the hematoma seems to be smaller. His surgeon is going to take some measurements but he's 95% sure he can repair the tear arthroscopically. We'll know more later.